There is Only One Democratic Candidate Who Can Beat Trump

After a presidency filled with turmoil, there’s one man who can put the Democrats in office: former Vice President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr.

As the most centrist candidate of the Democrats running, Biden is the most likely to pull in moderate and independent voters in addition to his democratic base. The other democratic frontrunners– Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris–are all more liberal than Biden on most political issues. While they might have a better chance at appealing to unwavering Democrats, Democrats have to realize that giving the nomination to one of the more extreme leftists will cause moderates to support Donald Trump, repeating the results of the last election.

Biden leans conservative on criminal justice reform; during his tenure as Delaware’s senator, he wrote the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which passed in 1994. This bill provided 100,000 new police officers to Community Oriented Policing Services, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons, $6.1 billion in funding for prevention programs and greatly expanded the federal death penalty. He also voted for the Secure Fence Act in 2006, which authorized and partially funded 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. These conservative policies will help attract independent voters and possibly pull in some Republicans who simply can’t vote for Trump.

Many moderate Republicans have grown tired with current President Donald Trump and are hesitant to vote for him again, but would not vote for mixed race woman Kamala Harris or socialist Bernie Sanders. However, they may consider Biden. Many do not want to admit it, but the Republican party has a record of supporting older white men for president. While none of the party members would admit to their racial and gender bias, conscious or unconscious, it is evident through the 2016 Republican primary candidates. In that election field, 13 out of the 16 Republican primary candidates were white men.

The other three other candidates, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal and Ben Carson, all polled at extremely low numbers. Fiorina dropped out after winning only two percent of the primary vote in Iowa and 4 percent of the vote in New Hampshire. Jindal’s campaign didn’t even make it into 2016, dropping out five months into his campaign in November 2015 after polling around 1 percent. Carson started off with a strong campaign, doing well in polls before the primaries. However, he quickly fell apart after the first two primaries and dropped out in March 2016.

While Biden can appeal to Republican moderates and independents, he still does a good job representing the Democratic party. Biden is liberal on the party’s most pressing issues: he is pro-choice, concerned with the environment, is supportive of gay-marriage rights and is a big supporter of women’s issues. He also has an “F” rating from the NRA and has a voting record heavily in favor of restrictions on guns.

Biden’s previous tenure as vice president gives him an advantage that none of the other democratic candidates have. Being in the White House for eight years, Biden built upon his foreign policy experience that he developed for years in the Senate; all other democratic candidates lack significantly in this field. Biden also gets to ride the coattails of former President Barack Obama who carried a whopping 95 percent approval rating from Democrats in his last week of presidency. Being associated with the former president gives him immediate name recognition and gives him a nostalgic aura.

After officially announcing his campaign April 25, Biden hauled in a whopping $6.3 million in the first 24 hours, more than any other of the current candidates in his party, according to an April 26 CNN article.

Joe Biden is a responsible choice to represent the Democrats in the 2020 election due to his bipartisan appeal and popularity from his time working as vice president. He worked with the highly popular Obama administration and considering the turmoil of these past few years, most voters will view Biden as a welcome return to a traditional presidency.